New Helston town council van hits the road... finally

Helston Town Council has unveiled its new van to help drive it into the 21st century.

Members agreed back in January that council staff should have an official vehicle, in order to carry out day-to-day council business.

As a result they decided to lease a van for five years, following a lengthy debate on the pros and cons.

Town mayor Mike Thomas said this week: “With five play areas distributed around the town, which must be regularly checked, as well as tasks such as weed spraying, it was deemed no longer appropriate for staff to use their own vehicles. The lease option was chosen by council members as the most cost-effective way of operating these services.

The van, which carries the Helston Town Council logo, will also be available for certain community uses.

However, a town council approved driver must always drive the van.

Anyone who thinks their community group might benefit from this should contact the town council office.

When the council first debated the topic back in the new year, then-mayor Jonathan Radford-Gaby said the council had taken on “an enormous additional amount of responsibility” over the last year to 18 months and needed a van so that officers could perform their duties.

Councillor John Martin saw the leasing of the vehicle as “the first phase,” saying: “We can test the usage of the van, prior to any purchase. I believe purchase will be necessary but maybe we start off hiring.”

However, councillor Gillian Geer believed the council should be hiring a necessary sized van when needed, while councillor Martine Knight said a hire budget already existed and was “not being utilised properly.”

A suggestion from Mr Williams that the council went straight into buying one found no support, with members agreeing in a majority vote to contract hire a van from Cormac for a five-year period.

Councillors Martine Knight and Gillian Geer recorded their names against the proposal, with the remainder in favour.

Ipsoregulated

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